New company alert: Startup Simple Mobile in Orange County officially launched its prepaid wireless service today claiming to “revolutionize the unlimited prepaid wireless market.”

It comes from Clay Berryhill, a former exec of defunct Amp’d Mobile, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, according to a note I got with the press release announcing the company’s launch. Berryhill has been working on Simple for two years in Laguna Beach. The company’s privacy page alludes to Irvine as being the home base.

From Simple Mobile’s press release (I’m waiting for the company to respond to questions), the new company does several things differently:

• Encourages customers to bring their own phone — over 180 are approved (MetroPCS also offers this service for $40)
• Offers GSM service, which is the same technology used by AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile customers (Sprint and Verizon Wireless use CDMA)
• Offers standard prepaid service that includes “no minimum term lengths in contracts, no credit checks, no hidden fees…”

So … is Simple really revolutionary? That’s quite a claim, Read the rest of this entry »